The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-06-22

courage. 1Ou are Ill BlOTlOuS COilPdLuouSulp
God will see you through all these trials. ano
He will deliver you.
My subject also impresses me with the fact
that good people sometimes get very much
frightened
In the tone of the voice Of these disciples as
they rushed into the back part of the boat, |
find they are frightened almost to death
They say: master, careSt thou not that we
perish !' They had no reason to be frightened
for Christ was in the bost suppose if we
had been there we would have been just as
affrightened. Perhaps more.
In all ages very good people get very much
affrightened. 1t is often so in our day, and
men say: Why, look at the bad lectures;
look at the Spiritual;stic societies; look at the
various errors going over the Church of God;
we are going to founder; the Church is going
to perish; she is going down." Oh, how many
good people are affrightened by the iniquity
In our day, and think the Church of Jesus
Christ is going to be oyerthrown, and Just as
much affrightened as were the disciples of my
text. Don't worry, don't fret as though in
iquity were going to triumph over righteous
ness
A lion goes into cavern to sleep. He lies
down, with his shaggy name covering the
paws. Meanwhile the spiders spin a web
across the mouth of the cavern, and say
"We have captured him." Gossamer thread
dIUSr ROSSduleT tuTeSu - spun uu1n ouc WHIT
front Of the cavern is covered with the Spl-
ders' web, and the spiders say "The lion is
done; the lion is fast" After awhile the lion
has got through sleeping; he rouses himself,
he shakes his name, he walks out into thesun-
light; he does not even know the spiders web
is spun, and with his voice he shakes the
mountain.
So men come spinning their sophistries and
skepticism about Jesus Christ; He seems to
H., Tlx1,- III Ia,,~
the Lord; He will never come forth again
upon the nation; Christ is captured forever.
His religion will never make any conquest
among men," But after while the Lion Of
the Tribe of Judah will rouse Himself and
come forth to shake nightly the nations
What is the spiders web to the aroused lions
Give truth and error fair grapple, and truth
will come off victor.
But there are great many good people
who get affrightened in other respects; they
are affrightened in our day about revivals.
They say: "Oh! this is strong religious gale;
We are afraid the Church Of God is going to
be upset. and there are going to be great
many people brought into the church that
are going to be of no use to it." and they are
affrightened whenever they see a revival
taking hold of the churches
As though ship captain with five thou.
sand bushels of wheat for cargo should say,
board all CARGO" and the sailors should say:
"Why, captain, what do you mean! Throw
over all the cargo? "Oh," says the captain,
1--WE have a peck of chaff that has got into
this five thousand bushels of wheat, and the
only way to get rid of the chaff is to throw
all the wheat overheard" Now, that is a
great deal wiser than the talk of a great
many Christians who want to throw over
board all the thousands and tens Of thousands
lie ,x1,No fha nfC Nf ytyoIc
Throw all overheard because they are brought
into the kingdom of God through great re-
vivals, because there is apeck of chatf, pint
of chaff! Isay, let them stay until the Last
Day; the Lord will divide the chaff from the
wheat.
Do not be afraid of great revival.
Oh, that these gales from heaven might
sweep through all our churches! Oh, for
such days as Richard Baxter saw in Kidder-
Oh, for such days as Jonathan Edwards saw
in Northampton! have often heard my
father tell Of the fact that in the early part
of this century revival broke out at Somer
vile, n. j., and some people were very much
agitated about it. They said: "Oh, you are
going to bring too many people into the
church at once;" and they sent down to New
Brunswick to get John Livingston to stop the
revival.
Well, there was no better soul in all the
world than John Livingston. He went and
looked at the revival; they wanted him to
stop it, He stood in the pulpit on the Sab
bath, and looked over the solemn auditory,
and he said: This, brethren, is in reality the
work of God; beware howy try to stop it,"
And he was an old man, le.ning heavily on
his staff-a very old man. And he lifted that
staff, and took hold of the end of that staff,
and began to let it fall very slowly through,
between the finger and the thumb, and he
said: "Oh, thou impenitent, thou art falling
from peace and heaven, falling as certainly
as that cane is falling through my hand-fall-
ing certainly, though perhaps falling slow
lyn And the cane kept on falling through
John Livingston's hand. The religious emo
in the audience was overpowering, and men
saw type of their doom, as the cane kept
falling and falling, until the knob of
the cane struck Mr.. LivingSton's hand, and he
clasped it stoutly and said: "But the grace OF
God can stop you, as stopped that cane"
and then there was gladneSs all through the
salvation WELL" said the people after the
service, II guess you had better send Livings-
ton home; he is making the revival worse"
Oh, for the gales from heaven, and Christ on
board the ship. The danger of the Church Of
God is not in revivals
Again my subject lmpreSSeS me with the
fact that Jesus was God and man in the same
being. Here He is in the back part of tho
boat. Oh, how tired He looks; what sad
dreams he must have! Look at his counte-
nance; He must be thinking of the cross to
come. Look at Him, He is a man-bone Of
our bone, flesh of our flesh. Tired, He falls
asleep; He is man. But then find Christ
at the prov of the boat; I hear him say:
peace, be STILL" and | see the storm kneel-
ing at His feet, and the tempeSts folding their
wings in His presence; He is God.
If have sorrow and trouble, and want
sympathy, go and kneel down at the back
part of the boat, and say: 80, Christ! weary
one of GenneSaret, Sympathize with all my
sorrows, man of Nazareth, man of the cross"
A man, man. But if 1 want to conquer my
spiritual foes, if I want to get the victory
over sin, death and hell, come to the front
of the boat and kueel down, and I say:
80, Lord Jesus Christ, Thou who dost hush
the tempest, hush all my grief, hush
all my temptation, hush all my SIM" A man,
a man; God, God.
learn once more from this subject that
Christ can hush tempest.
1t did seem as if everything must 60 to
ruin. The disciples had given up the idea Of
managing the ship; the crew were entirely
demoralized; yet Christ RISES and He puts
His foot on the Storm and it crouches at His
feet. Oh, yes! Christ can hush the tempest.
You have had tronble. Perhaps it was the
little child taken away from you-the sweet
est child of the household, the one AIo asked
the most curious questions, and stood around
you with the greatest fondness, and the spade
cut down through your bleeding heart. Per-
hapS 1t was an only son, and your heart has
ever since been like the deSolated castle, the